History Anime / UmaMusume

On December 15, 2018, it was announced that the spinoff 4-koma Manga ''Umayon'' will be getting an anime adaptation, with it first airing on July 7, 2020. A second season was later confirmed in September 2020, and began airing in January 4 2021. The second season focuses on Tokai Teio instead of Special Week.

* ShesGotLegs: Given the story concept of horse girls running around, the primary form of MaleGaze (among what little fanservice there is) involves shots focusing on the girls' decently well-built legs, particularly their thighs. This is especially prominent when Trainer feels the legs of potential talent.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:Silence Suzuka]] breaks her leg, as her real-world counterpart did. However, unlike her real-world counterpart, she survives this... because she's a biped and doesn't ''need'' all her legs to be working in order to do anything.

Based on the mobile training game by Creator/{{Cygames}}, ''Uma Musume: Pretty Derby'' is Creator/PAWorks' animated take on the horse girl racing scene.

For tropes about the original game, see [[VideoGame/UmaMusume here]].

* SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying: Despite the unrealistic premise, this mainly got {{Averted}} with a vengeance, with one notable exception - Trainer regularly approaching horsegirls from behind and suddenly feeling their thighs. It does get him well-deserved back-kicks, but he seems protected by a thick layer of PlotArmor. DoNotTryThisAtHome - if you do it with an actual horse, even the friendly and quiet kind, you might end up ''killed''.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: A given, since their names are taken from famous race horses. "Vodka" is probably the simplest name in the bunch, but still fairly unique.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: As expected from a game adaptation, the anime has over a dozen characters on the first episode alone.

* RuleOfGlamorous: The formal racing outfits seem to [[IncrediblyLamePun run]] on this trope, completely ignoring the laws of physics and bio-mechanics in favor of the girls wearing pretty outfits. No one has trouble running in high heels, gets slowed down by their heavy jackets or capes, or struggles with RapunzelHair getting in the way.

* SkunkStripe: Some of the horse girls, like Special Week, Tokai Teio, and Vodka, have a white stripe near the center of their hair. This is a gag to their real life horse counterparts who had white patches on the center of their head.

* MulticoloredHair: Several of the girls have white streaks or different shades of brown, to stand in for their RealLife counterparts' markings.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Special Week and Silence Suzuka. As common in many cases involving high school girls in anime, the makers are not averse to teasing, but this is all we ''know'' from canon, apparently.

* TheDragAlong: Gold Ship always drags Mejiro [=MacQueen=] into whatever activity comes through her mind.

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Silence Suzuka's racing career is cut short when she breaks her leg, exactly like her namesake did. Unlike her namesake, she survives and hopes to recover eventually]].

** {{Subverted|trope}}. [[spoiler: Silence Suzuka]] breaks her leg during a race[[spoiler:, just as her namesake did]]. While such an injury is a death sentence for real horses, [[spoiler:Suzuka]] is hospitalized and not more seriously injured [[spoiler:because of Special Week's help]]. Her trainer warns that she may never fully recover from her injury. However[[spoiler:, by episode 11]], after a year in rehab, she returns and wins convincingly.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:Silence Suzuka breaks her leg, as her real-world counterpart did. However, unlike her real-world counterpart, she survives this... because she's a biped and doesn't ''need'' all her legs to be working in order to do anything.]]

** {{Subverted|trope}}. [[spoiler: Silence Suzuka breaks her leg during a race, just as her namesake did. While such an injury is a death sentence for real horses, Suzuka is hospitalized and not more seriously injured because of Special Week's help. The trainer warns that she may never fully recover from her injury. However by episode 11, after a year in rehab, she returns and wins convincingly]].

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The real horses were famous champions from the last 30 years of racing, many of them Hall of Fame inductees. Unlike most examples of this trope, many of them are still alive (as of the game's launch in 2021).

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The real horses were famous champions from the last 30 years of racing, many of them Hall of Fame inductees.

* BlandNameProduct: Judging by the backs of the cards, the card game played by the Spica girls in the anime's ending is known as [[TabletopGame/{{Uno}} Uma]].

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The racing history in this anime generally follows the protagonists' horse racing seasons, though not without significant deviations. See the [[ShoutOut/UmaMusume ShoutOut page]] for details.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: the racing history in this anime generally follows the Japanese 1998 and 1999 horse racing seasons, though not without significant deviations. See the [[ShoutOut/UmaMusume ShoutOut page]] for details.

* BareYourMidriff: For the Winter Dream Tournament, all participants wear midriff-baring outfits instead of their regular outfits.
** The new racing outfits for Mejiro [=McQueen=] and Tokai Teiou for season 2 expose their navels.

** Oguri Cap wins an EatingContest without really trying, even when another competitor cheats by quickly dumping half of her plate over on Oguri's. And in a later scene, ''she's going for more!''

* CareerEndingInjury: {{Subverted|trope}} [[spoiler: Silence Suzuka breaks her leg during a race, just as her namesake did. While such an injury is a death sentence for real horses, Suzuka is hospitalized and not more seriously injured because of Special Week's help. The trainer warns that she may never fully recover from her injury. However by episode 11, after a year in rehab, she returns and wins convincingly]].

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler: Silence Suzuka's racing career is cut short when she breaks her leg, exactly like her namesake did. Unlike her namesake, she survives and hopes to recover eventually]].

* NeverTrustATrailer: the [[https://youtu.be/HYrVKLBhitE original trailer]] was different in many ways from the anime. This is apparently not a case of a misleading trailer, but rather the concept being developed between the 2016 trailer and the 2018 anime.